Chance Encounter
by bothlightanddarkness
Summary: A series of events along with some really excellent timing lead to the opportunity to attend a small and intimate Meet & Greet for Josh Hutcherson. However, there was no previous indication on how intimate meeting Josh would turn out to be. One-Shot. Josh Hutcherson x Original Character (COMPLETE)


I still wasn't sure how this was able to happen so easily. When I heard that Josh Hutcherson was holding a Meet & Greet in London during the same time I was in England for school, I didn't believe it. When I saw that it would only cost 25 pounds to meet him, I was even more skeptical. That didn't keep me from purchasing a ticket online the moment I found out about it and making the two hour trip into London early on the day of the event, though.

Having already made a few trips into London since I arrived in England a month and a half before, I was able to navigate the underground tubes with relative ease. The only hiccup I made was when I got on the train at the Piccadilly Circus station and realized two stops later that I was going in the wrong direction. I arrived at the location of the meet and greet ten minutes later than I would have liked, putting me in the middle of the line once everyone had arrived.

Looking around me as the line began to move, I realized how small of a turnout it was. Including myself, of course, I estimated that there was roughly 150 people there. Even if there was only a certain amount of tickets available, I would think that there would still be people hanging around the venue in the hopes of still seeing Josh.

Twenty minutes passed and the line was moving smoothly. I shifted nervously on the balls of my feet, realizing that I would probably be far enough down to see Josh in the next ten minutes. I examined the people around me again, this time taking in their appearances. A good deal of them were teenagers, with the oldest being about five years younger than I was, even though I was still a year younger than Josh. There were some who were even younger, accompanied by parents gripping large coffees or teas in one hand and holding their child's complimentary poster in the other. Some guardians were also playing the role of spot holder as their kid bounced in and out of line continuously, jittery with excitement.

I reached down and unzipped my cross-body bag, pulling out my autograph book and a laminated drawing done on simple copy paper. My poster was rolled up and tucked under my arm as I looked over the items. I was not the best artist in the world, so my drawings always tended to exclude the person's face. While this was done in order to keep me from potentially ruining my work, the lack of facial features gave my drawings more character and simply seemed like an artistic style. The small autograph book with me had a very similar drawing in it, it was just about a third of the size. Even though I had already looked over the drawings countless times in the days leading up to this, I went over both again, making sure that they were something I wanted Josh to see. I took a deep breath, deciding it was too late to change my mind now, and slid both items carefully back into my back.

By this point, the line had progressed enough that I could see through the open doorway at the end of hallway I had just entered. However, I wasn't close enough yet to make out anything other than the edge of a plastic fold-out table, some security men leaning against the wall at the front of the room, and the door on the opposite side where people were exiting. From what I could tell, you were supposed to stand in the doorway until it was your turn. I felt my stomach drop. This information meant that there were only about fifteen people in between me and Josh Hutcherson. I took another deep breath and cracked my fingers nervously, stepping forward again as the next person entered the room.

Glancing at my phone and watching the next three people enter and leave, I deducted that each person got an average of about 30 seconds to a minute with Josh. It's the amount of time that I expected, but I still felt myself get disappointed. I didn't want anyone rushing me when I didn't think I was ever going to have this opportunity again. The main thing I was worried about concerning the time constraint was having enough time to get him to sign my book and the poster that I decided I was going to give to my best friend, who was still home back in the United States. I concluded that if I was rushed by security in any way, I would just have him sign the poster and give him the drawing.

The line had moved faster than I expected, because over half of the people in front of me were accompanied by parents or entered the room in pairs. Once the next three groups of people were done, I could finally see into the room. The walls were a plain white color, matching the white tile on the floor. It made sense now why noise in the room carried so easily. As soon as I had turned the corner into the hallway about five minutes before, I could occasionally hear voices echoing back to me, though I couldn't make out what anyone was saying. There were a few times as well where a familiar laugh bounced off the walls and made its way to my ears. Being so close now, I was able to see the person the laughs were coming from.

Josh Hutcherson sat in a cushioned chair on the other side of the cheap looking plastic table. His head was thrown back as he laughed at the excitement of the little girl in front of him. His hair was a tad messy and fell into his eyes when he wasn't brushing it aside. It looked like he hadn't shaved since the day before, based on the stubble that spread across his jawline and down onto his neck. The deep red of his v-neck shirt mixed with the dark blue cardigan he had over it made him look tanner than I'm sure he was and his eyes were sparkling intensely.

I watched closely as he interacted with the last four sets of people in front of me, making note that he stayed behind the table the whole time. Discouraged, I had not even realized that my turn had come up until I was waved forward by one of the security guards. My heart jumped into my throat and I felt my hands begin to shake so hard that they were practically vibrating as I approached the table. Josh was leaning down, looking underneath the table for the cap of the sharpie I just saw him drop. I set my book, drawing, and poster down on the table as he sat back up, sticking the cap on the end of the marker.

Our eyes met as his back straightened and I watched his widen slightly as I bit my lip nervously. Realizing I was wasting time, I quickly made the brave and rash decision to ask him for a hug. At the same time, he was slowly rising out of his seat, asking if it would be alright if hecould hug _me._ I stumbled over my words and turned to just nodding frantically in reply.

Josh came around the table and pulled me into a tight hug, with his arms wrapped around my waist. Overwhelmed and starstruck, I struggled to keep from shaking as my arms went around his neck and I returned the hug. However, I couldn't hold back the shaky sign that escaped my lips as our hug began to end. I blamed it on nerves when my ears thought they heard him sigh in the same way, but there was no denying the kiss he planted on my forehead once we pulled apart.

Under his breath, I heard him say softly, "God, you're just really, _really_ pretty."

Unsure of what to say or how to breathe, I smiled up at him and mouthed, "Thank you."

He cleared his throat suddenly and I came back to reality, taking a step back from him. I reached towards my stuff on the table and hastily grabbed my drawing, accidently shoving it towards him.

"I… This is for you," I stared at the paper as I spoke, so I didn't see his reaction as he took it from me and pulled me into a hug again, muttering "thank you" under his breath. This time my arms went around his middle and I was able to hug him as tight as I could manage. This time there was no mistaking the shaky breath he took or the way people were giggling and whispering behind me. He must've heard it too, because we both laughed simultaneously and broke apart.

Josh set the drawing on the table as I reached over for the poster and the autograph book. I held the poster out to him first and as he unrolled it and spread it out on the table, I hurriedly explained that the poster was going to be a gift for my best friend. He chuckled at my rushed words and asked for her name.

"Kayla," I answered. I slowly spelled out her name as he wrote it down, along with a short message to her. He rolled the poster back up when he was done and handed it to me.

"Those words are for her eyes to read first, got it?" Josh joked, flashing a crooked smile that made my stomach lurch. I nodded, setting the poster down before opening my book and attempting to flip it to the right page. Well aware of his eyes studying me as I did so, my hands began shaking again and I struggled for longer than I should have to get to the drawing. I folded the book open and wordlessly passed it to him. He glanced at the drawing, one eyebrow raising as he looked back at me.

"And who is this for?" He asked, before opening the sharpie again with his teeth.

I looked into his eyes and couldn't help but hesitate before I replied, "Me?" suddenly feeling weird about wanting his autograph for myself. He took the sharpie cap out of his mouth and laughed, shaking his head as he did.

"Sorry." His laugh faded away and he smiled crookedly at me again. "I guessed as much when I saw the drawing. What I should've asked was: 'What's your name?'"

I laughed through my nose, smiling softly as I said and spelled it, following his hand as he copied it down. He looked up and caught me watching him. He grinned at me before holding the book up and turning slightly away from me, blocking my view of what he was writing. He finished up, snapped the book shut, and mock bowed as he handed it back to me. I tried and failed to suppress a giggle as I took it from him and set it down with the poster. I reached into my bag for my phone and he seemed to read my mind as I began to speak.

"Can we-"

He finished my thought, "You want a picture?" I nodded, opened up my camera on my phone, and passed it to him. He immediately wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to his side.

"We have to both fit in the frame, you know. And I don't bite. Promise." He smirked as my cheeks grew red and hot, but I returned the smile and leaned into him. He held the phone out in front of us, mushed his face against mine, counted to three, and took the picture. His stubble pressed into my check, but it tickled more than it hurt, which made me laugh as the picture snapped. He kissed the side of my head before locking my phone and dropping it into the still-open pocket of my bag.

I suddenly became aware of how much time I was taking and began grabbing my things off the table. I knew I should probably hurry, but I couldn't help but pick the book and poster up slowly, taking time out to re-roll the poster tighter and wrapping the rubber band on my wrist back around it. He watched my every movement and opened his arms for me as I finished. I found myself sliding in between them easily as my arms snaked around his neck again. He pulled me extremely close and we swayed back and forth as he slowly turned us in a slow circle during the hug. We broke apart, he kissed the top of my head, and I backed up so I could look into his eyes again. We were almost eye level, so making eye contact was a lot easier than I would've expected. We gazed at each other for a moment and I felt my face split into a grin and I saw his do the same. I cautiously took another step back and turned to go, but I didn't take more than two steps before his hand on my arm stopped me.

I glanced up at Josh, watching as he reached over and pulled my autograph book out of my hand. Rather than opening it back up though, he instead pulled out my print-out ticket from in between the pages. He opened it with one hand as he opened the sharpie again with his teeth. He scribbled something quickly, using the book as a hard surface to write on. After Josh was done, he closed the sharpie, tossed it onto the table, folded the ticket back up, tucked it into the pages, and held the book out to me. I took it gingerly, pausing when he reached out and rubbed my other arm affectionately with his free hand. He grinned at me again and help his hand up in a small wave and I returned both gestures immediately.

This time when I turned and walked away, he didn't stop me. As I left the room, I pulled the paper out and opened it, feeling my eyes widen when I realized that he had written his phone number sloppily on it. I looked back into the room, hoping to make eye contact with him, but he was already sitting behind the table again, signing the poster for the girl who was behind me in line.

I pulled out my phone, punching in the numbers on the paper carefully. I stared at the screen for a few seconds, trying to come up with something witty to say and failing. I decided on just a blue heart emoji and hit send as he finished up with the girl and she made her way out of the room. He pulled his phone out of his pocket quickly once her back was to him and I wasn't sure if his phone was on vibrate or if it was just good timing. He typed in his passcode and clicked on something as his face broke into a grin again. I knew the thing he clicked on must've been my message when he looked up and made eye contact with me almost immediately. He glanced back down, tapping the screen rapidly with one thumb and glancing back up as my phone lit up. I scrolled down the notification bar and my heart beat raced as I read the message.

"Please don't go anywhere."


End file.
